It's not every third-person shooter that has me giggling as I shoot gatling peas at zombies dressed as football players. While Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare puts players in humorous settings with imaginative powers, it also offers a unique, hilarious shooter experience that both fans of the series and those shooting sunbeam lasers for the first time will get a kick out of. I recently got the chance to go hands-on with the game to test out one of Garden Warfare's multiplayer modes.

Before you hop into a multiplayer match, you select a plant or a zombie to play as. In my demo there were four base options for each side, but what I was surprised to find was that each character also has a wide variety of customization options available. Here, I could choose from a variety of humorous accessories, tattoos, hats, and organic elements for each plant or zombie. For example, I ended up giving my Pea Shooter character cucumber shades, a camo tattoo, and a top hat. Producer Brian Lindley explained that while there were only a few options available in this demo, "There's going to be dozens and dozens more [in the final game]."

After you select a character and their outfit, you march into battle with a team in order to be the first side to net 50 kills. I only played on one map, Garden Center, but it was large enough to offer several strategic platforms and had a variety of rooftops and hiding places where you could pop out and decimate enemies. The map was also peppered with silly artistic touches, like doodles and graffiti on the walls that say things like "Plants R Stoopid" (I wonder who wrote that…). Lindley told us that the other nine maps available at launch will be in suburban neighborhoods, seaside towns, and more, but they all originate from the idea of playing in the backyard, and the developers went crazy from there.

Each plant and zombie comes equipped with three distinct abilities as well as a basic attack. The abilities are derivative of the attacks in other Plants vs. Zombies titles, but they come to life in new and creative ways here. For example, the Peashooter can root into place and use his Gatling Pea ability to unleash a rapid-fire attack, just like in Plants vs. Zombies 2. But rather than only being able to shoot down a line, you can now shoot multiple enemies until you're taken out or run out of ammo. The Sunflower, another memorable character from Plants vs. Zombies, can heal her allies and offers support to her teammates by dropping Marigold Pots around the map that heal anyone who comes near it.

The zombies are familiar as well. The All-Star Zombie for example, (the one dressed as a football player) comes equipped with a heavy Football Cannon that fires out mini footballs, but he's got a few powerful abilities up his sleeve. He can use Sprint Tackle to charge enemy plants back, or he can send out an enthusiastic Imp super fan Zombie that explodes upon colliding with plants.

What an unsuspecting Sunflower.

But while the All-Star was entertaining, my favorite Zombie was the Engineer.

The Engineer comes equipped with a shotgun-esque Asphalt Cannon, but his two abilities I enjoyed the most were Jackhammer and Engineer Drone. Jackhammer is basically the Engineer's sprint ability, but rather than running fast, he hops up on his Jackhammer and quickly rides it around the map with his buttcrack hanging out as you go. The first time I saw it I laughed out loud, and it never got old. His Engineer Drone is a little zombie robot that you control and fly over the battlefield to try and drop air strikes on the enemy plants. Finding a group of clumped up plants and calling an air strike down upon them was incredibly satisfying. The Cactus Plant has a similar ability called Garlic Drone, and while the Engineer Drone drops fiery air strikes, Garlic Drone drops exploding popcorn.

In addition to your team trying to be the first to reach 50 kills, each plant and zombie has their own character progression as well. You earn experience by completing challenges throughout the match, and every character will have three challenges to overcome at any time. These challenges encourage you to use your character correctly, like getting 10 kills with an Engineer Drone or using your primary weapon on the Peashooter to kill five zombies. For completing challenges, you'll unlock new customization packs, as well as variations for the characters.

The All-star Zombie might go-all-the-way!

These variations are not only visually appealing, but they sometimes add new powers to the plants and zombies. The Scientist Zombie, for example, normally shoots purple goo at Plants, whereas the Marine Biologist Zombie shoots electric dolphins out of an eel-powered fish tank on his back. The Sunflower, who can fire rapid bursts of sunlight at her enemies, has an electric variation that allows her sunburst to electrically chain to other nearby enemies to deal more damage.

If it all sounds like too much to take in at once, Lindley explained that there will be a "Welcome Mat" mode for new players still learning to play. "Only players under rank 10 can get in and so it'll be a lot easier for players learning the game and still getting familiar with the characters can play with other players who are at that same skill level, so you won't get thrown to the wolves immediately." He also mentioned that with the game's co-op mode, which I didn't have a chance to try, people will be able to learn how to play alongside their friends, which he imagines some players will find appealing.

After Garden Warfare launches, PopCap plans to support the game with free bi-monthly DLC. "One of the things we want to do is constantly be expanding the maps and modes and adding things for players to do as well as putting in new character items and different types of characters," Lindley said. "That's definitely going to be one of our big focuses once the game launches, to drop lots of new content."

For those who may be intimidated by hardcore shooters, or for those just looking for some ridiculous fun, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare is looking like a fast-paced quality experience packed with a lot of extra goodies. And as far as Xbox exclusivity? A PC version has been confirmed and Lindley also mentioned that PopCap wants to, "get the game in the hands of as many people as possible," so feel free to draw whatever conclusion you want from that…

Leah B. Jackson is an Associate Editor at IGN. Feel free to follow her/send tips on Twitter and MyIGN.